Wall protectors are widely used in the rooms and corridors of commercial and institutional buildings that are frequented by carts and other conveyances to protect the walls from impacts that could cause marring and cracking. One form of wall protector is a crash guard, which is an elongated member of durable material that is usually mounted on a wall surface parallel to and a few inches above the floor. The front exposed surface of a crash guard is located an inch or so from the wall surface and prevents carts and other conveyances from directly contacting the wall by itself receiving impacts and deflecting the cart. Corner guards are applied vertically to external wall corners to receive impacts.
One form of wall protector that is in widespread use has a metal retainer that is affixed to the wall and receives and supports a cover, which is commonly a sheet of polymeric material, such as polyvinyl chloride, that is formed in cross section to fit over, be retained by and conceal the retainer. Wall protectors of the type having retainers and covers have the advantage of permitting the retainers to be fastened to the wall by fasteners that are exposed on the outside surface of the retainer for ease of installation but are not visible because they are concealed by the covers. They have the disadvantages of being relatively expensive and being composed of several parts, such as end caps that close the ends of each section and fasteners for the end caps.
Wood wall protectors are often used because of their good appearance, relatively low cost, and ease of installation. Generally, wood wall protectors are fastened to the wall by screws that are installed from the external surface in exposed holes, thus leaving the head of the screw visible or requiring the installation of a plug, which is also visible but is more attractive in appearance than is an exposed fastener. One-piece protectors of other materials, such as a rigid plastic foam with a hard skin or a moderately hard rubber likewise usually require installation with screws having exposed heads or visible plugs that conceal the screw heads.
One object of the present invention is to provide a wall protection assembly, which is especially useful for one-piece wall protectors of a solid material, in which there are no visible screw heads or plugs. Another object is to provide a wall protection assembly that is economical, attractive, and easy to install. Still a further object is to provide a wall protection system in which the protector members are strongly fastened to the wall and will not be dislodged, even by heavy impacts.
The foregoing objects are attained, in accordance with the present invention, by a wall protection assembly that includes an elongated wall protector member having an impact surface adapted to face away from a wall and a mounting surface adapted to engage the wall. An elongated groove extends longitudinally along and into the protector member from the mounting surface. At least two resilient mounting clips join the protector member to the wall. Each mounting clip has a mounting base adapted to be affixed to the wall in concealed relation to the protector member and at least one resilient hook projecting from the base and received in the groove in captured relation.
In the wall protector assembly of the present invention, the mounting clips are attached to the wall and in turn accept the protector member and retain it on the wall by reception of the hooks in the groove in the concealed mounting surface of the mounting clips. Accordingly, there are no visible screw heads or plugs. The mounting clips are likewise fully hidden from view. A wall protection assembly embodying the invention is economical, attractive, and easy to install. The hooks of the mounting clips firmly retain the protector member in place on the wall.
In preferred embodiments, the mounting surface of the protector member has a longitudinally extending recess that receives the bases of the mounting clips, thus permitting the side margins of the mounting surface of the protector member to engage the wall. The mounting surface of the protector member also has recesses for accepting the heads of the fasteners that attach the mounting clips to the wall. Each resilient hook includes a leg extending from the base and receivable in the slot and a tang bent at an acute angle to the leg.
When the wall protector is a crash rail, there are two elongated grooves extending parallel to each other in spaced-apart relation, and each clip has two hooks, one of which is receivable in one of the grooves and the other of which is receivable in the other groove. Each mounting clip has a planar base and a hook at each end of the base. The leg of each hook forms a right angle with the base, and side edges of the base, each leg, and each tang lie in parallel spaced-apart planes. A hook of that configuration is easy and economical to make, inasmuch as it can be formed by bending from a strip of uniform width.
A wall protector in the form of a corner guard has two side portions joined to each other at a right angle. In a preferred embodiment of a corner guard assembly, according to the present invention, a single elongated groove for receiving the hooks is provided at the corner juncture of the side portions and forms substantially equal angles with each side portion. Each mounting clip has a single hook. The base of each mounting clip has two arm portions joined at a right angle, and the hook is located at the juncture of the arm portions with the leg of the hook forming substantially equal angles with the arm portions of the base. For economical manufacture, the hook is formed of a segment cut along three sides from one arm of the base and bent out from that arm and then bent again to form the tang. Adjacent mounting clips are, preferably installed with the hooks facing in opposite directions.
For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.